Oregon tribes say feds failed to protect Upper Klamath Lake sucker fish, violated Endangered Species ActThe Klamath Tribes of Oregon are alleging in a lawsuit filed last week that federal agencies are failing to protect endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake. The lawsuit has many similarities to a lawsuit filed by local tribes and environmental groups in 2016 alleging the same but for threatened Klamath River Coho salmon, which ended with a judge ruling in their favor.
The Klamath Tribes of Oregon say the Lost River and Shortnose suckers are reaching a tipping point.
“Too many fish are dying before they’re old enough to reproduce,” tribal fisheries biologist and former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mark Buettner said in a statement. “Most of the younger fish are offspring of older fish that are nearing the end of their lifespans. We’re basically looking at a biological bottleneck.”
The tribes say this year’s drought conditions have amplified the effects of chronically low lake levels, which they say can cause toxic algae blooms. The tribes are seeking the court to order the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation and National Marine Fisheries Services to take “immediate, emergency measures” to provide water for tribal fisheries. The lawsuit claims the 2013 the biological opinion the agencies base their management off of is “inadequate to preclude the possibility of an extinction level event” for the sucker fish this water year.
Similar lawsuits filed against the three federal agencies in 2016 by the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes along with environmental groups ended with a U.S. District judge ordering the agencies to reconsult on the 2013 biological opinion for managing threatened Coho salmon in the Klamath River. U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued injunctions in early 2017 requiring federal agencies to perform the dam releases to prevent the outbreak of a intestinal parasite that infected the majority of juvenile salmon in the Klamath River in 2014 and 2015.
That decision is currently under appeal by several water agencies and irrigators in the Klamath Basin.
The Klamath Tribes of Oregon stated in a news release that improving water quality in Upper Klamath Lake would result in cleaner water for downstream species, such as Coho salmon.
http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20180526/oregon-tribes-say-feds-failed-to-protect-upper-klamath-lake-sucker-fish-violated-endangered-species-act
